Miele Man

First off NO GUN related posts here ot the thread will be closed likethe earlier one was.

Some people think that it's fairly easy to scare off a cougar once it attacks. This is NOT true. A few years ago a woman on a mountain bike was attacked by a cougar. The woman she was riding with threw her bike at the cougar but it didn't help. Some other mountain bikers arrive and threw stones but even that didn't help.

Here is the video with the woman recounting her experience of this attack.


Here is a drama presentation of the attack.


Also, you can be stalked by a cougar and not even know it's near you until after it attacks.

Cheers

Russ Roth

Seems like the best general solution to this is bear spray which I carry with me when touring and especially would if riding through an area where cougars were a real possibility. In the last year I've read about cougar, coyote and wolf attacks, some while riding and some while camping. Probably won't stop the initial attack but should reduce the level of damage. The odds are in your favor that nothing will happen but a can of pepper stray on the handlebar bag is the easiest assurance that you can do something should luck decide against you and always good for the random stray dog as well.

bargo68 

I was attacked by a cougar.
Except it WAS a 48 year old divorcee on a mountain bike.....

shelbyfv

From what I've read, you'll never know the beast is stalking you until it gets you. Not a lot you can do Maybe bring along a sacrificial dog or child?

Jonathan Hanson 

The important thing to remember is just how vanishingly unlikely it is to be attacked by a cougar. And as a matter of fact, it has been shown that fighting back if you are attacked is successful in a high percentage of cases.

This also generally works with the divorcees.

79pmooney

In the state of Washington there have been accounts of attacks by 250 pound cougars. Usually in the fall (mating season?) and oddly, often in the vicinity of sports bars.

Flip Flop Rider

who here was thinking it's easy to scare one off?? I'm thinking once a cougar, wolf, or bear get interested in you, you have a serious problem

thehammerdog

very scarey and not predictable yet
sexy hot.

OldTryGuy

I have SABRE RED PEPPER GEL mounted on handle bar for an easy draw but didn't help when a 150lb mama wild hog hit into me 25 nights ago at 1:25AM and mile 33 of an overnight 100 mile ride. Don't know if it was "on purpose" but my friend I was riding with saw her and her piglets moments before lighting them up with his lights and since I was following some bit behind she would have seen my approaching lights and maybe decided to take action??? Still managed a 63 mile ride today with the cracked left scapula, ribs number 5 and 6 left side cracked and punctured lung all healing nicely yet still tender.

bargo68 

I can never seem to pedal fast enough.....

CAT7RDR

Probably not a good idea to travel alone in bear and cougar country without a strong deterrent like bear spray. If it was me I would sacrifice weight and carry a collapsible baton (ASP) as well. This weapon can crush a skull of a bear or cougar but you will only likely get one good shot if that.

indyfabz

Last year in black bear, grizzly bear and mountain lion country. Campground host saw a lion the same day up a different road.

indyfabz

Too far to climb to look for a date.

CAT7RDR

I would be very careful in bear country not to go around bends in the road at 25 mph. You surprise a bear, you will not get a bluff charge and you will be mauled.

diphthong

you get attacked by a cougar/puma/mountain lion...cover your neck-esp the back of your neck-at all costs. that's where they like to strike to inflict a fatal blow.

if it's not the cars, it's the cougars. super stealthy and masters of surprise. good luck deploying said spray/baton/prayers/curses.

Miele Man

Hey there people, can we PLEASE keep this thread on topic which is about FOUR legged cougars/mountain lions?

Cheers

Cyclist0108

A friend of my kid survived a great white shark attack by punching it in the nose. I thought that took a bit more composure than I would have been able to manage.

I ride every day in mountain lion country. I've never worried about it. The chance of being attacked is quite remote. (I've only seen them at night and from the comfort and safety of a car.)

Kapusta

According to Wikipedia, there have been 125 recorded mt lion / cougar atracks in N America in the past 100 years, 27 of which were fatal.

By those stats you have a roughy 78% chance of surviving it.

There have been 5 deaths in the past 20 years.

Not to seem blasé about it, but it is worth keeping in perspective.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._North_America

I am far, FAR more worried about getting killed by a motorist than a mt lion. I felt this way when I lived jn CA in the mid 2000’s as well.

Paul Barnard

I have to admit it was with some level of trepidation that I opened this thread. I didn't see the NSFW warning, so I dared.

Maelochs

I kind of like the fact that humankind hasn't eliminated every other apex predatory species on the planet ...

But as has been noted ... humans are By Far the greatest threat to human beings.

I have maybe a one-in-one hundred chance of getting jumped by a cougar (and since i don't live in cougar country ... ) but I have already been hit or run off the road several times by humans. I;'d opt for fewer humans and more cougars, perhaps .... or better humans, for sure.

2old

Think I'd rather try my luck with the four-legged variety.

2old

Don't know if she stated it, but that cougar killed another MTB rider. However, not another attack in the 15 years since AFAIK, although we chased one off that was stalking an individual a couple of years ago. It's a statistical thing, and you can't do much except not ride solo. I've seen many through the years, mostly when riding by myself, but they weren't interested even once when it was enjoying a kill..

StarBiker

Plenty of them further north on the NCR. Keep you warm in the winter, and give you shade in the summer........

tomato coupe

Agreed. There's no place for humor on online forums.

bikemig 

pics or it didn’t happen,